Burke: The Brain Behind the Pacers’ D

Linked below is a terrific article from NBA.com on Indiana Pacers longtime assistant coach Dan Burke. Burke has been employed by the Pacers through five different head coaches – Larry Bird, Isaiah Thomas, Rick Carlisle, Jim O’Brien and Frank Vogel. Burke offers some really good coaching insights on ball screen defense, confrontation, switching, in-game adjustments, and being honest with players.

“You don’t want to be too strict, because they’re the ones in the battle. But you want to have a certain level of accountability. And I think doing things certain way, everyone knows who is responsible for what. And their teammates know. So now they can coach each other. You want a players-coached team where they hold each other accountable. But it doesn’t work if you’ve got too many questions.”